So she shakes ’em, an’ she twists ’em, an’ she tu’ns ’em ‘roun’ erbout,
  ‘Twell I don’ see how de chillun evah keeps f’om hollahin’ out. 
  Den she lif’s ’em up head down’ards, so’s dey won’t git livahgrown,
  But dey snoozes des’ ez peaceful ez a liza’d on a stone.

  W’en hit’s mos’ nigh time fu’ wakin’ on de dawn o’ jedgment day,
  Seems lak I kin hyeah ol’ Gab’iel lay his trumpet down an’ say,
  “Who dat walkin’ ‘roun’ so easy, down on earf ermong de dead?”—­
  ‘T will be Lizy up a-tu’nin’ of de chillun in de bed.

THE DANCE

  Heel and toe, heel and toe,
   That is the song we sing;
  Turn to your partner and curtsey low,
   Balance and forward and swing. 
  Corners are draughty and meadows are white,
  This is the game for a winter’s night.

  Hands around, hands around,
    Trip it, and not too slow;
  Clear is the fiddle and sweet its sound,
    Keep the girls’ cheeks aglow. 
  Still let your movements be dainty and light,
  This is the game for a winter’s night.

  Back to back, back to back,
    Turn to your place again;
  Never let lightness nor nimbleness lack,
    Either in maidens or men. 
  Time hasteth ever, beware of its flight,
  Oh, what a game for a winter’s night!

  Slower now, slower now,
    Softer the music sighs;
  Look, there are beads on your partner’s brow
    Though there be light in her eyes. 
  Lead her away and her grace requite,
  So goes the game on a winter’s night.

SOLILOQUY OF A TURKEY

  Dey ‘s a so’t o’ threatenin’ feelin’ in de blowin’ of de breeze,
    An’ I ‘s feelin’ kin’ o’ squeamish in de night;
  I ‘s a-walkin’ ‘roun’ a-lookin’ at de diffunt style o’ trees,
    An’ a-measurin’ dey thickness an’ dey height. 
  Fu’ dey ’s somep’n mighty ’spicious in de looks de da’kies give,
    Ez dey pass me an’ my fambly on de groun,’
  So it ‘curs to me dat lakly, ef I caihs to try an’ live,
    It concehns me fu’ to ‘mence to look erroun’.

  Dey’s a cu’ious kin’ o’ shivah runnin’ up an’ down my back,
    An’ I feel my feddahs rufflin’ all de day,
  An’ my laigs commence to trimble evah blessid step I mek;
    W’en I sees a ax, I tu’ns my head away. 
  Folks is go’gin’ me wid goodies, an’ dey ‘s treatin’ me wid caih,
    An’ I ’s fat in spite of all dat I kin do. 
  I ‘s mistrus’ful of de kin’ness dat’s erroun’ me evahwhaih,
    Fu’ it ‘s jes’ too good, an’ frequent, to be true.

  Snow ‘s a-fallin’ on de medders, all erroun’ me now is white,
    But I ‘s still kep’ on a-roostin’ on de fence;
  Isham comes an’ feels my breas’bone, an’ he hefted me las’ night,
    An’ he ‘s gone erroun’ a-grinnin’ evah sence. 
  ’T ain’t de snow dat meks me shivah; ‘t ain’t de col’ dat meks me
       shake;
    ’T ain’t de wintah-time itse’f dat’s ‘fectin’ me;
  But I t’ink de time is comin’, an’ I ’d bettah mek a break,
    Fu’ to set wid Mistah Possum in his tree.